CNB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CCNE) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 17% in April to 440,362 shares (1.5% of float), leaving a short-interest ratio of about 2.7 days based on average daily volume.
• Wall Street sentiment has turned positive, with multiple upgrades and price-target raises leading to a consensus “Buy” rating and a consensus target price of $34.50.
• CNB recently beat quarterly estimates (Q: $0.88 EPS vs. $0.82 expected; revenue $83.32M vs. $79.35M) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.19 (annualized $0.76, ~2.5% yield).

CNB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CCNE - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 440,362 shares, a drop of 17.0% from the March 31st total of 530,318 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 161,922 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CCNE shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded CNB Financial from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of CNB Financial from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of CNB Financial from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised CNB Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.50.

Institutional Trading of CNB Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in CNB Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Peoples Financial Services CORP. acquired a new stake in shares of CNB Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Founders Capital Management purchased a new stake in CNB Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in CNB Financial by 46.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,995 shares of the bank's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in CNB Financial by 16,173.3% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,441 shares of the bank's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 2,426 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.35% of the company's stock.

CNB Financial Trading Down 1.0%

CCNE opened at $30.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $889.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 0.67. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $29.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.34. CNB Financial has a 1-year low of $21.19 and a 1-year high of $31.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

CNB Financial (NASDAQ:CCNE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $83.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.35 million. CNB Financial had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 17.62%. Analysts expect that CNB Financial will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CNB Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This is an increase from CNB Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. CNB Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.05%.

About CNB Financial

CNB Financial Corporation NASDAQ: CCNE is a bank holding company headquartered in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. The company operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, CNB Bank & Trust, providing a full suite of community banking services. With a focus on relationship-driven banking, CNB Financial seeks to serve individuals, small businesses and agricultural clients across central Pennsylvania.

The company's core offerings include deposit products such as checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit.

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